


The Lost Red Paladin

by alisayamin (sh_04e)



Series: Lisa's Voltron Platonic Gen Fics [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherly Affection, Canon-Typical Violence, Epic Friendship, Family, Family Reunions, Father-Son Relationship, Fights, Fluff and Humor, Galra Empire, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Inappropriate Humor, Keith joins the Kerberos Mission, Keith-Centric, Kerberos Mission, Loss of Limbs, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Mind Manipulation, Mother-Son Relationship, Original Garrison Trio, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Matt Holt, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Swordfighting, Team Dynamics, also memes, blade of marmora, but not really cuz not lot of keith pov actually, duh cuz its shiro, matt keith and shiro are like brothers and they would do anything for each other, self-sacrificing idiots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2020-03-09 08:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18912979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sh_04e/pseuds/alisayamin
Summary: “The Sun is up! C’mon sleepy head!”“Matt.” Keith groaned. “The Sun doesn’t even set in space. It’salwaysup.”“Semantics, young padawan.” Matt announced regally. “Wake up before Shiro eats all of today’s rationed breakfast eggs!”“One time.” Shiro whispered vehemently. “That was one time.”orShiro found a teenager in the Galaxy Garrison library. Matt adopts the teen immediately. They eventually go to space together and occasionally pull off idiotic stunts. (Shit happens but at least they have each other)





	1. Dreams of The Past

**Author's Note:**

> Been juggling this idea around for more than a year. It was supposed to be for a big bang but I can't commit to finishing it on time so I'm writing this as I'm updating (cuz I need to get it out). 
> 
> Keith is around Matt's age and has been personally inducted into the Garrison program by Samuel Holt, after being discovered by Shiro. This fic is written for the sole sake of expressing Keith through other characters and playing around with the relationship of the original Garrison trio which is my favorite non-canon(?) trope. Like ever.

 

Shiro was not fond of visiting the Garrison library. It was too big. Too quiet. Too… empty. Besides, almost every book was available to be read on his tablet anyway. However, Shiro couldn’t deny, there was some sort of satisfaction from holding and reading the reference book about quantum physics. And Adam was borrowing his tablet for the day until his recently dropped one was fixed.

Shiro had just finished his reading on the third floor and was on his way to the back exit when something in the corner of his eye made him do a double take.

See, the Garrison had a dress code for students and staff during a certain period of the day and at certain facilities. It was a strictly enhanced policy that no one could break. So yes, seeing a teen wearing a red hoodie in the library, sitting cross-legged at the end of one of the aisles rang all sorts of alarms in Shiro’s head.

He glanced around and noticed there was no one but the two of them on that floor. Technically, the third floor only had reference materials and students usually had the textbooks downloaded on their own devices. Maybe Adam wasn’t the only one with a broken tablet…? The teen gave no indication he was bothered by Shiro’s scrutiny.

Shiro began to slowly approach the teen and took note of the mountain of books on the floor surrounding the teen. He stopped right in front of the teen but was still ignored. He opted to clear his throat to gain attention.

“What?” asked an annoyed voice. The teen had the audacity to not even look at him!

Before Shiro could say anything, the teen glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow. “If you want this book, there’s three more copies on the third shelf. Call number QC18312. Z49F. 2050. V12.”

Shiro wasn’t sure what was more confusing; the fact that the teen had recited the book’s call number without looking at the spine or the fact that the teen casually assumed Shiro wanted the book at all.

“Um.. What are you.. Why are you here dressed like that, cadet?”

The teen frowned. “Cadet?”

Shiro frowned back. “You’re not a cadet?”

“…No, I’m just reading,” said the teen waving his hand towards the books around him, like it was the most obvious statement.

“…” Shiro stared at the teen, trying to comprehend the situation.

“Library’s public, ain’t it?”

Slowly, Shiro shook his head. “No. No, it’s not. Not this one. How’d you get pass the sliding doors at the main entrance?”

The teen looked genuinely surprised. “There’s a main entrance?”

“What entrance have you been using?” Shiro asked incredulously.

A lot could be said about Galaxy Garrison’s security when Shiro was led to the faulty staff exit on the third floor of the library. Which just so happened to be connected to the empty ground space outside. And had a completely climbable fence leading out to a barren desert where civilization should have been non-existent.

Except for Keith “I’ve-been-reading-here-for-a-year” Kogane.

 

* * *

 

Matt was sitting on the couch when he heard the door open and knowing it was his roommate, called out, “Found what you needed, Shiro?” He turned to face Shiro and immediately froze when he also saw a casually dressed teen at the doorway. “… I don’t recall you looking for a-…” Matt shrugged. “-test subject?”

Shiro sighed. “Matt. Meet Keith.”

 _‘Keith’_ nodded. “Hi.”

“Hi…” Matt responded unsurely. He gave an accusatory gaze at his roommate. “Shiro?”

“Found him in the library.”

Matt gave Shiro a disbelieving look.

“He’s not a cadet, Matt.”

“Oh.” Well that changed things. Matt got off the couch and motioned for a handshake with Keith. “Congratulations! How’d you infiltrate us?”

Shiro’s shoulders sagged. “Matt, really?”

Keith returned the handshake though. “I didn’t know the library was off-limits.”

Matt stared at Keith and when he realized he was telling the truth, Matt laughed. He laughed until he was wheezing and clutching the back of the couch, trying to keep himself from rolling on the ground.

“It’s not that funny.” Shiro deadpanned.  

Matt’s face was red as he tried to breathe properly. He was still giggling and wiping his teary eyes when he finally stood properly again. “It’s _hilarious._ Why’d you bring him here, then?”

“I can’t just let him go!”

Matt and Keith echoed the same question simultaneously, “Why not?”

“He infiltrated the main base of a private military organization.”

“Nuh-uh.” Matt wiggled his finger authoritatively. “Infiltrating means he had a mission to break in. Keith here just wanted to read.”

Shiro stared at Matt like he was an alien species. “Whose side are you on?”

“Book readers gotta stay united, sorry Shiro.” He turned to Keith with an excited glint. “Ever read original sci-fi books? I have a whole collection from the 90’s!” Matt was already pulling Keith towards his compartment, leaving Shiro dumbfounded.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, Shiro just sighed yet again, walked out of the room and proceeded to report about the faulty library staff exit. And maybe also suggest opening the library to the public. If not, he could probably help Keith gain access to some of the books. They were just normal reference materials. There was no harm in seeking knowledge.

By the time he got back, Matt and Keith were at the dining table and papers were scattered as they sat across each other. Matt was frowning as he looked over some of the papers and Keith was… writing?

“Hey Shiro?” Matt called without looking at him. “Remember those mock exam papers you printed last week and you gave me the answer sheet so that I could check your answers later?”

“Yeah, why?”

Matt didn’t answer him.

Curious, Shiro joined them at the table. Matt handed Shiro two of the exam papers he had printed – only it was already filled and marked. The score was almost perfect. Shiro put two and two together and slowly turned to Keith. The mock exam papers covered every single topic ever taught at the Galaxy Garrison; from basic physics to advance materials required by any future astroexplorers. And here was a teen who lived in the desert, answering the mock exam papers like it was a piece of cake.

“He’s doing the third one.” Matt whispered. “And he’s got almost every question _right_ so far.”

Shiro inhaled sharply. He stared at Keith, long enough till Keith finally stared back. Holding out the two marked exam papers, Shiro had to ask, “You really did all these questions?”

Keith’s lips twitched. He almost looked smug as he responded, “What, like it’s hard?”

Shiro laughed. “How do you feel about playing with a flight simulator, Keith?”

This time, Keith grinned.

 

* * *

 

* * *

 

“RISE AND SHINE KEITH!!!”

Keith tried to block Matt’s cheery wake-up call but it was futile as he was practically dragged away from the pillow on his bunk.

“The Sun is up! C’mon sleepy head!”

“Matt.” Keith groaned. “The Sun doesn’t even set in space. It’s _always_ up.”

“Semantics, young padawan.” Matt announced regally. He then proceeded to shove a water pack in Keith’s hand and made sure Keith stayed upright on his bunk. “Wake up before Shiro eats all of today’s rationed breakfast eggs!”

“One time.” Shiro whispered vehemently. “That was one time.” He was balancing two plates of food and he handed one to a groggy Keith. Matt had skedaddled to probably get Sam from wherever he was.

“Thanks.” Keith placed the plate on his lap and uncapped his water pack for a quick gulp.

Shiro sat on his bunk right beside Keith’s and they both ate comfortably.

“Good dreams?”

Keith looked up at his co-pilot. He shrugged playfully. “Just about that one time _someone_ disturbed me in the library.”

Shiro scoffed. “Brat.”

They both shared a smile before Matt burst in the crew quarters with Sam. The little crew basked in idle chat, carrying easy conversations from the quarters to the bridge. When they reported back to the Garrison with a live video feed, Matt and Keith were seen to be idly bouncing off each other in zero gravity – Matt was laughing, Keith looked annoyed. Sam was float-reading on his tab despite being Mission Commander. He was _this_ close to a new breakthrough in his side research. And Shiro was busy explaining how productive they all were.

 ** _“How is floating around productive?”_** asked the exasperated voice of Commander Iverson.

Keith smoothly replied, “We’re assimilating ourselves to all possible gravitational pull and centrifugal force from the planet Pluto, sir.”

“Nice.” Matt grinned and they not so subtly shared a high-five at the completely bullshit reason of floating around in the spacecraft. Everyone knew they already underwent the necessary gravity training back at the Galaxy Garrison.

Shiro looked absolutely done. And so did Commander Iverson. It was no better than the previous video feed of them playing Monopoly – Space Edition and having to explain how they even snuck it on board. It was, surprisingly, Sam who did it because his daughter gifted it to him. Keith, Shiro and the Galaxy Garrison refused to believe it. Matt was just happy to build ‘space stations’ (houses) at every ‘planet or moon’ (property) he landed on.

It was day 84 of the Kerberos Mission.

Pilots - Takashi Shirogane and Keith Kogane.

Senior Science Officer and Chief Engineer - Samuel Holt.

Junior Science Officer and Communication Specialist - Matthew Holt.

ETA to Kerberos: 65 days

 


	2. Day 149

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith would do anything for them. He has precautions for every possible situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> George is the nickname for their autopilot system. Fault protection is like a safety protocol / methods in case anything happens.

Day 149 of the Kerberos Mission.

Shiro entered the bridge and watched as Keith gave the latest report to Commander Iverson.  

**_“Any internal damages?”_ **

“No, sir. Only minor material stress due to thermal contraction, sir. I’ll be doing some repairs after landing. George also needs to reboot before we take off again.”

 ** _“Very good. Safe landing, you two.”_** Commander Iverson looked to Shiro as well.

Both Keith and Shiro nodded in respect. “Yes sir.”

Once the video feed was disconnected, Shiro took his seat beside Keith. “Subsystems?”

“Fully functioning. All chutes and legs waiting for deployment. Descent engine is ready.”

They both stared at Kerberos. They had first spotted their destination a few weeks ago. Currently, it was right in front of them. They could see the wafting waves of cold air. Their spacecraft was designed to cater to the moon’s atmosphere but they were still shocked by the sheer cold ambient temperature.

“We’re finally here, huh.”

“Mm.” Keith answered, distracted by one of the manuals he was reading up on.

Shiro took a peek at Keith’s tab and smiled. “Fault protection?”

“Yeah.”

The seriousness in Keith’s tone worried Shiro a little. “Hey. It’ll be fine. Nothing’s gonna happen. Nothing _has_ happened so far. Except for those thermal contractions you said. But that’s nothing compared to what we’re fully trained for.”

Keith closed the manual on his tablet and sighed with his eyes closed. Shiro was right but he had an awful nagging feeling that something would go wrong. When Keith opened his eyes, he took a deep breath to calm himself. “Are those two ready yet?”

It had been a few hours and Matt and Sam were busy prepping their gear for sample extraction. It was kind of adorable at how excited those two were.

“Heck yeah we are!” Matt exclaimed as he had entered the bridge the same moment Keith asked.

Shiro and Keith waited for Sam to arrive and strap in as well before they took control of the spacecraft.

“Mission control room.”

Matt ensured they had a fully established connection with those on Earth. “Connected.”

“Good.” Shiro nodded to Keith. “Prepare for descent.”

Keith turned a dial and activated their thrusters. “Descent engine fully powered. Thrust power ready.”

Sam calculated the distance to their landing zone and announced. “0.9 miles out.”

“Begin descent.”

Timing was everything. The two pilots had trained their coordination endlessly back at the Galaxy Garrison. They worked like a well-oiled machine; Shiro’s skilled technicalities with the controls complimented by Keith’s instinctive timing and maneuvering.

 

* * *

 

Matt was just grinning on his seat. He loved watching Keith and Shiro’s duo-piloting skills. There was something about the fluidity of their control that made them both mesmerizing.

“Altitude 300 meters.” Keith called out. A moment later, he continued, “200 meters. Legs deployed. Thrust power 35%.”

Still, as they approached the surface of Kerberos, Matt couldn’t help but gulp.

Sam was in no better shape. “What happens if we don’t land properly?”

Almost like an innate response, Matt shrugged with a downturn of his lips and raised eyebrows. “Guess we’ll die.”

Keith and Shiro, even while they were flipping switches and turning dials, shrugged as well, almost as though in agreement with Matt’s statement.

Sam stared at his son and his pilots in horror-induced awe. “The morbid humour of your generation never cease to scare me.”

“80 meters... 50 meters…” Keith’s voice was almost pained with how pressurized the bridge felt.

Sam announced, “Touchdown velocity reached.”

“20 meters…”

It was at that moment the spacecraft shook violently as it finally landed. They suffered a minor whiplash from the rough plop but despite it all, Keith and Shiro slowly looked to each other with weary expressions before their faces broke out into matching goofy grins. They glanced back to Matt (who whooped and shouted “TOUCHDOWN!”) and Sam (who looked immensely grateful to still be alive). The four crew members shared a good, relieved laugh.

 

* * *

 

“You sure you'll be okay?” Shiro asked one more time.

Keith didn’t bother to give a response, just an eye-roll.

Shiro huffed. “Fine fine. Tell me when the comms are back up. Can’t believe they missed the landing.”

“Me neither. I’ll send them a recording when we’re back online.”

Halfway through their descent, communications with Earth were suddenly cut off. So while Shiro accompanied the science officers to collect samples, Keith would stay behind to manage some repairs and attempt to reestablish the connection. The spacecraft was temporarily undergoing a reboot so it would be awhile before the subsystems were ready to fully function.

At the forward hatch, a ladder was deployed and the crew made their way outside. Matt was singing and humming “Ice ice baby~” as he trailed after Sam. Shiro gave Keith a two finger salute before he followed suit.

"Make good choices, Matt." Keith called out.

Matt turned and started walking backwards. "Excuse me, I make  _great_ choices." He firmly lifted a fist. "And to prove that, I'll bring back the prettiest ice for you, Keith!"

"Looking forward to it," humoured Keith. "Stay safe, Sam. Look after these two."

There were some sputtering noises from Shiro and Matt, while Sam laughed and responded, "Be careful with those repairs, Keith!"

"Yes sir," Keith answered softly, more to himself than an actual reply. He smiled and watched his team explore Kerberos’ surface for awhile. Then, he extracted a tool kit and began to manually assess the mechanical damage to the spacecraft. Keith climbed up the spacecraft and expertly navigated to the damaged sites. He had spent a great amount of time with Sam back on Earth, studying the spacecraft inside and out. Keith may not be a specialist or an engineer but he knew this spacecraft like the back of his hand for the sole purpose of being able to fix it as best as Sam could.

Which was why Keith became puzzled as to why the comms went off. After some minor fixing, Keith went back inside the bridge. The subsystems had finished rebooting, so Keith ran various diagnostics to check on all of the systems. There was nothing wrong with the communication device or sensors. If it wasn’t an internal issue… something had to be blocking their communication line.

As Keith tried to contact the mission control room again, something beeped on their radar. Keith’s eyes widened at the mere size of the blip. Something… something _big_ was coming their way.

Keith immediately contacted the three short-ranged devices distributed to Sam, Matt and Shiro earlier. “GUYS THERE’S SOMETHING OUT THERE! GET BACK TO THE SHIP NOW!”

Shiro sounded worried, **_“Keith, what’s-“_**

 ** _“Oh my god..”_** cut off Matt.

 ** _“What… is that?”_** Sam questioned, fear lacing his voice.

Fault protection. Keith launched a Code White signal to the mission control room, hoping that their communications would be back online soon. Then, he ran.

They were shouting and screaming incoherently through the devices. His crew was in danger.

Keith hastily put on his suit and ran out the forward hatch. What he saw would forever be ingrained in his mind. A huge spaceship floated right above him. And a laser beam of light was licking the surface of Kerberos. Keith watched helplessly, still running towards his crew, as they were bodily lifted and sucked by the beam of light. The biting cold that seeped into the gaps of his unfastened suit had nothing against the sheer panic growing inside him.

Keith gritted his teeth and ran faster. He let himself be absorbed as well, not knowing the full consequences. But as he was lifted, he quickly unstrapped his own suit; made easy by how sloppily he had put it on earlier. He didn’t know what was going to happen or where his crew was. However, Keith gripped the handle of the blade he always hid under his shirt, right on his lower back. It took months of getting used to in order to hide it there.

Sam wasn’t the only one who illegally snuck in something into the spacecraft.

As Keith neared the source of the beam, he got into stance.

Fault protection. Keith had the methods and strategies memorized. Both for the untimely danger posed on his spacecraft written on a manual. And a personal manual in his mind he created for his crew.

When Keith materialized in the ship’s landing space, he was met with the unconscious forms of his crew and a dozen or so strange-looking humanoid creatures.

They aimed their firearms at Keith, clearly shocked that he was aware and standing.

Keith jumped over his crew’s _('Unconscious. Please just be unconscious.')_ bodies and bared his teeth. He began swinging his weapon.

Chaos erupted.

Fault protection. Keith would defend his crew and keep them safe. Especially against gun-wielding humanoid extraterrestrials. No matter what it took, he would protect them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably the last chap from Keith's POV tbh. After this, it's mostly the 'finding Keith' phase hehe
> 
> I HAVE 3 EXAM PAPERS IN A ROW THE NEXT FEW DAYS BUT HERE I AM, PUMPING THIS OUT CUZ I NEED IT OUT


	3. Team Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I truly believe that if the galras were not given benefit of the doubt and the Kerberos crew spent a little time together before their capture to truly 'accept' what has happened, they would have been a force to reckon with. 
> 
> (And I so do not agree with the 'all aliens speak english' so I'll world-build that aspect on my own)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I not mention that Kerberos Mission ship's name was Cassie? Well it's Cassie.

 

“Matt.” Shiro deadpanned. “Pick up your staff.”

Matt was sprawled on the training mats; chest heaving as he panted out, “What’s the point? Both of you are gonna kill me again anyway.”

Keith crouched down next to Matt and playfully poked him as though he was dead. Matt went along and theatrically flopped his arms before becoming limp. It was worth it because Keith laughed. Rare occurrence. A treasure. Matt and Shiro kept a mental record of all of Keith’s laugh.

“Why are we training so hard? I passed the combat training, isn’t that enough?”

“Contingency.” Shiro replied. Keith nodded.

“For what?”

Shiro looked up to the partially transparent roof of the Garrison Training Facility, urging Keith and Matt to do the same. They watched the stars for a while before Shiro finally answered ominously, “For whatever’s out there.”

 

* * *

 

* * *

 

Waking up was like resurfacing from a water surface. Shiro sat up and noise and light bombarded him like a storm. There was something red beeping from his HUD and subconsciously, he understood that he had to unclasp his helmet. After doing so, he realized he could finally _breathe_ properly and the noise was so much worse.

Shiro looked up to his side and saw something that he never thought could be real. Keith was quite literally slicing his way through humanoid robot-creatures with guns. It felt like a whole minute for Shiro to process what was happening but in reality it was just two seconds. He saw one of the robots aiming its weapon to Keith’s back. Shiro didn’t hesitate to get up and throw his helmet across the room, hitting the creature right on the head which made it drop its laser gun (Shiro mentally laughed).

Shiro raced to kick the creature before he picked up the dropped weapon. As he was aiming it, Keith shouted, “Wrong end!”

“Oh.” Shiro fixed his hold of the laser gun. “Thanks.” And started shooting.

After the room was cleared, Shiro and Keith looked to each other with the most bizarre expression, both not entirely sure what had happened.

“Are we… Were those… aliens?”

Keith awkwardly gestured around the room. “You think?”

Shiro dropped his gun and looked at the sharp weapon in Keith’s hand. “You brought your _blade_ …?!”

Keith inwardly sighed. They were on an alien spaceship and _that_ was what Shiro was worried about?   

Shiro realized how miniscule the issue was when he looked at Keith’s expression. “Right. Totally irrelevant.”

They hurried to Matt and Sam’s unconscious bodies. Shiro explained how his HUD had warned about a sudden lack of oxygen and imminent limited supply; that was what had knocked them out. Something about the beam that transported them messed up with their suits. Once they removed the helmets, the father and son were quick to sit up and gasp in much needed air.

“What happened?” Sam asked.

“Giant beam. I remember a giant beam.” Matt whispered. He turned alarmed eyes to Shiro. “Are we on that thing we saw?”

Shiro nodded gravely.

Keith tapped Sam’s helmet that he had helped unclasp, “Your suits malfunctioned. Knocked you out.”

“Why not you? Wait,” Matt frowned. “How the _heck_ did you get on?! You were in- Oh god what happened to Cassie?”

Keith looked away as he explained, “I… I ran out to you guys. My suit was loose when they beamed me too. I pulled out of it.” He turned to Matt. “I sent a Code White before I left Cassie. I don’t know what’s happening down there. I don’t know if the comms are back on. I don’t know if-”

Sam clapped Keith’s back and smiled at him. “We’re okay. That’s what’s important.” But Sam frowned when he took note of the gashes on Keith’s face and some cuts on his arms and torso. He released a portable first aid kit from his suit, ignoring the widened eyes of his crew as he filled up a jet injector with the necessary cartridges.

Shiro was impressed. “I didn’t know our suits had those.”

Sam chuckled. “Only mine does. Personal request.” He then urged Keith. “Tilt your head.”

Keith did so reluctantly and pulled down the neck of his shirt. He felt the smooth cool surface of the jet injector against his skin before a slight pressure as the contents were released into him. He heard Sam say very softly, “Just because you were trained for this, doesn’t mean you have to suffer more than necessary.”

Keith nodded and appreciated that Sam didn’t say it loud enough for either Shiro or Matt to overhear. The analgesics was a relief and Keith was able to relax for a moment.

Meanwhile, Matt had taken a good look around at the carnage left by Shiro and Keith. He glanced at Keith’s blade, wildly gestured to it and whisper-shouted, “You brought your _blade_?!”

Keith took in a very deep breath while looking upwards. He ignored Shiro’s “I know right?!” and opted to help Sam stand up and get out of his suit instead.

Shiro helped Matt and announced, “We need to find a way out of here. And we gotta make it quick before more of them-“

One of the walls slid open and a squad of those humanoid robot creatures came swarming in with more laser guns.

Matt deadpanned to Shiro. “You _had_ to jinx it.”

“GO!” Keith ushered his crew to a different wall that had opened earlier during his solo fight.

Shiro swiftly grabbed a gun and hang back, shooting at the aliens while running backwards. Once the door closed, he turned and started running in earnest with his team.

“Can someone get me a pole so that I can actually fight back?” Matt asked no one in particular.

Keith grunted a reply before jamming his blade into what looked to be a pipeline. It wasn’t exactly metal but it was sturdy enough. Keith cut the other end off and pulled the piece out. He ignored the whistling white smoke emitted from both cut ends and simply offered the pipe piece to Matt.

Matt took it with a shrug. “Good enough.” He tested it by doing some offensive practice moves. “Hey guys, if any of them lays eggs in me, kill me before it hatches, okay?”

Keith nodded with such solemn intensity that Shiro howled with laughter. Sam was understandably disturbed.

 

* * *

 

The traumatized are unpredictable because they know they can survive.

Sam witnessed this statement before his very eyes as he watched Shiro, Matt and Keith quite literally fight their way through an alien spaceship. An hour ago, they were celebrating their successful landing. An hour ago, aliens were just myths. An hour ago, they weren’t running for their lives.

And yet, his crew kept making space movie references, quipping at each other and laughing at times. A lot of things scared Sam. He has an ever-changing list of things that he’s afraid of. Currently on top was ‘My son and his friends are laughing about the inaccuracy of alien movies on Earth while fighting real aliens’. Sam was surprised that ‘Running from killer aliens’ came second on his list.

 

* * *

 

They eventually find the main control room. There was only one alien there and it didn’t look like any of the sentries (“We can’t keep calling them _‘robot-aliens-with-laser-guns’_ , Shiro!”) they had destroyed along the way. There was a big glass-like window where they could see the surface of Kerberos and their small ship, still rooted on the moon’s surface.

The alien spoke gibberish words. Then it stared at them with a sinister smile before pulling a lever on one of the control panels.

“What-?” Shiro started to say before they all felt an incredible force push them backwards, landing harshly against the wall.

Keith did his best to cushion Sam as the pressure kept them glued to the wall. It was a few seconds before they all fell forward with pained grunts.

“..what…was that…?” Matt groaned.

Keith braced himself on one knee and looked up. The alien was still standing in the same spot with the same expression. The only difference was that the glass-like window no longer showed Kerberos. Instead, there was a bigger ship looming ahead and a whole fleet of smaller ships surrounding it.

The Kerberos crew was stunned into silence. Some part inside of them knew that the enemy ship had teleported or 'jumped' to their home-ground.

The alien at the panel spoke and cackled at the fallen humans. Keith didn’t need to understand the alien’s words to know how screwed they were.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a much larger alien creature dressed in extravagant red armor and a long cape, materialized at the center of the control room. Its yellow eyes glared down at the Kerberos crew as though they were pathetic creatures. There was an energy that radiated from the creature that screamed ‘danger’. It induced an unshakable fear and a desperate need to run. It was almost suffocating. 

Matt was shaking slightly. Shiro was bracing his fifth laser gun closer to his chest. Sam was barely breathing from sheer dread.  

Keith held his blade in a death grip. The panic was back again as he met the gaze of the newcomer. Something... something about that alien made the blood in Keith's vein tremble with unadulterated terror. Keith could feel how dry his throat was as he swallowed nervously. When Keith's hot glare was met with a cruel amused smirk, his grip on the handle of his blade almost faltered. 

 _'Dangerous...'_ his mind reminded him.

This time, Keith wasn’t sure what he could do to keep his crew safe anymore.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so maybe Keith's POV isn't ending any time soon. Not until the next chap at least... Thanks for the support guys! Really appreciate your words TwT 
> 
> I'll reply to all comments once I've caught up with them... Haven't touched my inbox in weeks...


	4. Capture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's pragmatism is both his strength and his downfall.

 

Commander Iverson entered the office with an opening statement that baffled Admiral Sanda.

“He surpassed the Sleep Simulator.”

“…” Admiral Sanda frowned from where she sat on her chair. She twined her fingers together. “Who are you referring to specifically, commander? And what do you mean by ‘surpassed’? The simulator was not designed to be overcome.”

“Kogane.” Commander Iverson placed a file on the admiral’s desk. “And by surpassed, I mean he beat the 10 days maximum trial simulation.”

The admiral’s interest was piqued. She opened the file of the unruly cadet.

Keith Kogane.

A thorn in her side but a useful thorn. Keith Kogane’s admission was initially based on recommendation by Officer Samuel Holt but it wasn’t long before Keith made a name for himself, being on par with Takashi Shirogane himself. Once Shiro was made into an officer, he and Samuel Holt both saw to it that Keith was kept in check. It helped that both officers adored Keith (for what reasons, the admiral had no idea). In a few months, she would reluctantly approve the notion of promoting him to a higher position. Keith Kogane was one of their best pilots and he was capable of everything Takashi Shirogane could do (except teach, of course).

The admiral flipped the file to the latest page, taking note that there was nothing remarked for the latest Sleep Simulator test. “What was his status after the simulation? Any hallucinations or paranoia?”

Commander Iverson nervously answered, “The simulation hasn’t ended.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“We restarted the trial but kept the time going. He’s on his 11th day right now. And he’s been lucid every time we initiated a random ambush.”

Cogs and gears began turning in the admiral's head. The Galaxy Garrison had trained plenty in the art of dissociation but never one with such a natural talent for it. To be able to last 10 days while maintaining clarity and cognitive function without prior training was inhuman. But it was a trait sought by many, especially astroexplorers who were expected to survive in any given condition out there in deep space.

Admiral Sanda slowly smiled. She closed the file and stared at the solemn picture of one, Keith Kogane. Definitely a useful thorn. She stood up from her desk and ordered her commander, “Show me.”

 

* * *

 

* * *

 

The human race.

He’d heard of them before, a species from Terra. A primitive planet; still unaware and ignorant of the vast universe and all its other living creatures. He had no interest in taking over such a small planet on a barren galaxy. He couldn’t care less about mere humans.

Which is why, when the report came about four humans nearly destroying a whole ship of sentries, he was… mildly intrigued. He had to see the progress of such species first-hand. Zarkon transported onto the newly arrived ship and assessed the humans. He concluded that humans were such crude creatures. It was evident by their weapons of choice. One was fighting with a crooked pole, one had stolen their firearms, and one was using a mere blade. The fourth was protected from the fights. Despite their unrefined methods, Zarkon could not deny that it was effective.

Watching all but one wither under his gaze made him smile. It had been a long time since something interesting occurred.

The resultant battle was not even worthy of being deemed a ‘battle’. However, what the humans lacked in strength, they more than made up for it with their persistence and… questionable loyalty.

When the human with the blade charged at him, Zarkon admitted to being a little disappointed but was surprised when the human _threw_ the blade at him instead of going for a close-range attack, as all swordsmen usually do. This was followed by a barrage of beams from the galra’s own firearm shot by the other human.

A genuinely impressive tactic, for what was supposed to be from mere primitive beings.

In three steps, Zarkon deflected the thrown blade with a wave of his hand and avoided all of the projectiles. The human swordsman only managed to retrieve his weapon again before Zarkon seized him by the head and lifted him off the ground. Humans were such small and pathetic creatures. Zarkon squeezed the human’s neck for good measure, reveling in the sharp intake of breath and groan of pain. How pitiful it was for humans to only have one airflow for ventilation.

Just the sight of the human being held in his hand was enough to make the rest of the humans shout in alarm. Immediately, weapons were dropped and they cautiously went down on their knees. Zarkon was perplexed at the display; loyalty given so freely, without question. Placating words were offered for the freedom of their fellow human but there was nothing of worth they could truly offer.

That is, until Zarkon felt a sting in his arm that was holding the barely breathing human.

Zarkon could see blood beginning to trickle from where the human had weakly stabbed his wrist. For a moment, the only sound in the room was the soft dripping sounds of Zarkon’s blood onto the floor. He had not suffered any injury or felt such a stinging pain in a very long time. What a strange sight and feeling it was. He looked at the human in his hand and gazed into one of the hardest glares he had ever received.

It was a look that promised pain and revenge. Words could not convey the length that particular human would go through for the sake of whomever he chose to protect or die for. It resembled the very essence of the galras; ‘Victory or Death’.

Suddenly, the humans did not seem so… pathetic any longer.

Realization was belated but Zarkon also admired the humans’ control of fear and confusion. While he could understand the humans due to the universal linguistic implant, they could not and did not understand the galran language, nor were they capable of comprehending their full situation. And yet, they braved through a ship of armed sentries and one human even had the nerve to draw his blood.

Zarkon smirked once again, more impressed than amused. Perhaps his advisor would have a grand time exploring the human's eccentric characteristics. The witch would be excited to have new test subjects for their future models and the Empire's arena would benefit greatly from the humans’ participation.

After the order was given, druids appeared to whisk the humans away, except for the one losing consciousness in Zarkon’s hand. The three humans shouted for their companion, reaching out for him, desperation in their cries, loyalty everlasting. They knew their attempts were futile but it did not stop them from trying before they dematerialized with the druids.

Persistence seemed to be in abundance when it came to humans. It irked him somewhat. Zarkon completely cut off the human’s airways, watching it flail weakly. One part of him was interested to see how long the human would actually last without air. Another part of him wanted to see the light die in those eyes. As expected, the heat of the human’s gaze lasted till the very last tick of its consciousness.

Once the human body dangled limply from Zarkon’s hand, he pulled out the small blade sticking out of his wrist and let it fall to the ground. Then, he called upon the witch to return to the flagship. He would see to it that the human was delivered personally to his advisor.

Scouting the Milky Way proved to be a good decision after all.

 

* * *

 

Thace continued to thoroughly scout the ship of dead sentries as ordered. Commander Prorok had been given instructions to investigate the ‘human traces’ on the abandoned ship Thace was on, as well as on the moon of an ice planet in the Milky Way galaxy by Emperor Zarkon himself.

The mission status requested was urgent, thus Thace, being the most diligent, was sent alone to scout the abandoned ship while his commander made haste towards the Milky Way.

There was not much to be scavenged but Thace took note of the incredible damage done by 4 mere humans. He was especially interested in the marks left by the swordsman or swordsmen. He was not aware that humans had such well-trained swordsmanship. The sentries made by the witch, Haggar, was built from a resilient material with incredible hardness and the lowest friability. For it to be destroyed, the swordsman must have either had the strength or the right weapon to-

That was when Thace saw it, lying on the ground – a luxite blade.

His outer appearance remained calm but the blood in his vein pulsed with a deafening rush as he crouched down to reach for it. He examined the blade as he browsed through his memory. No blade members were stationed in that ship or assigned to scout the Milky Way. And the blade he was holding was too familiar for it to belong to anyone else. Thace tried to recall Krolia’s last whereabouts. He was certain she was infiltrating the base of Warlord Ranveig and had been doing so for quite some time. She would not have been anywhere near humans or the Milky Way galaxy.

Thace stood up and made his way to the control panel. He entered the necessary coding to replay the security feed. He watched the humans rise in battle against the sentries and their inevitable fall against the Galran emperor.

There were four humans that were captured. And one of them, the seemingly new owner of the luxite blade in Thace’s hand, had an uncanny resemblance with a senior member of the Blade of Marmora.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, no more Keith POV. Let the 'Find Keith' journey begin~!
> 
> EDIT: Happy Eid Al-fitr to my muslim readers!!! Drive safe back to your hometown!


	5. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter where promises are / were made.

 

Sam burst through the doors of Admiral Sanda’s office and let his wrath bleed into his voice. “Have you not had enough with Keith?!”

The admiral’s eyebrows were raised in a challenge. “You’d do well to remember your place, Officer Holt.”

Sam knew where the conversation was going. He’s had it before. Twice. “You have conducted unorthodox tests that were not even authoriz-”

“Officer Holt, have you forgotten the exact reason as to why we are training him-“

“He. Is. A _child_!”

“He is not your charge and he happens to be a consenting adul-“

“He’s my son’s age! You are literally torturing-!”

Admiral Sanda slammed her palms on her desk as she stood up to face Sam. “The only reason why Keith Kogane is allowed on the Kerberos Mission is because he is currently being trained for every possible scenario, with or without encountering extraterrestrials. So in the event that something were to happen on your mission, at least one of you will live to tell the tale.”

Sam held his glare for about ten seconds before his shoulders deflated. He rubbed his temple and exhaled slowly. “He wasn’t responsive again. Found him standing still in the middle of the room.”

“It’s part of his training.”

Some of the anger returned.

“Training?" Sam had whispered in disbelief. His voice steadily rose, "You call him spacing out with that blank look in his eyes, training?! How is it that you’re still enforcing this just two weeks before our launch?! Hasn’t he been through enough?!”

 “We cannot risk sending an unprepared soldier into deep space.”

And that was all it came down to. Sam knew how much the higher-ups despised Keith. But even they could not deny how versatile and talented Keith was. Sam may have caught Keith acting like a zombie but what he didn’t say was that Keith had done it intentionally in a room full of distracted people at his own going-away party. He had been training in midst of a celebration.

Sam had purposely attacked Admiral Sanda because he knew the only reason Keith had continued his ‘training’ was because it was under orders.

After a few more minutes of futile arguments, Sam left with the final word that he would not allow Keith out of his sight. Keith had already completed the special training and he’d be damned if Keith trained for one more minute while they were still on Earth.

And he said so as much when he ran into Keith the next morning.

Keith was quiet and stunned at first by Sam's fierce outburst. Then his face softened and Keith gave Sam a small smile and a promise Sam knew he couldn’t keep.

“I’ll be alright, Sam.”

 

* * *

 

* * *

 

The last thing Sam saw before he felt like being forcefully vacuumed into a tube was Keith’s pale panicked face and outstretched hand.

Sam landed on his back in a new room, staring at a plain ceiling. He sat up and saw Shiro and Matt on the ground with him. All their weapons were gone.

And so was Keith.

Sam was… numb. They had lost Keith. Whether it was intentional or not, Sam didn’t know. He knew Keith had separate orders, several ‘protocols’ designed only for him. Was this part of it? Was Keith ordered to gather intel If he came across extraterrestrials? At the risk of his own life? At the risk of theirs?

 

* * *

 

“DAMN IT!” Matt had shouted as he slammed his fists into the ground of their new prison cell. He had tried to find cracks, anything that can be exploited as a potential escape route but there was nothing. There were no metal bars, no cement cracks, only walls. “We have to go back.”

“We can’t.” Shiro reasoned.

Matt’s head whipped so fast, Shiro flinched.

“So you’re just gonna wait here and let them kill Keith?!”

Shiro grabbed Matt’s right shoulder and sternly let out, “We don't even know where he is! And there’s a reason we’re still here, Matt! Why do you think we're still alive?! They had every chance to kill us but they didn’t.” He allowed those words to sink in first before he continued. “I can’t promise you but I think Keith’s alive. They wouldn’t kill him. Not after what he did.”

“Shiro’s right.” Sam added. “You boys destroyed a whole ship of their soldiers. What’s more, if they find my research on Cassie-“

“We won't be just prisoners anymore.” Matt exhaled in realization.

Shiro closed his eyes to think. “What are the chances they’ll invade Earth?”

“I’m not certain.” Sam sighed. “Code White has never been used. And none of us were there to confirm the status either.”

The mention of Code White reminded them all of Keith again. They had all shouted for him. They had all seen him, so small in the hands of the large alien and yet still so strong. Keith had stabbed the alien despite being at death’s door. And there was nothing any of them could do about it anymore.

Shiro counted at least a day before the weird cloaked aliens suddenly appeared in their cell. When they immediately took Sam and teleported away, Shiro knew they had searched Cassie and had found something useful. If they knew how to handle human tech, they would have easily found out who among them had crafted the blueprints.

What Shiro didn’t expect was for him and Matt to be forced to change clothes. Matt put up quite a fuss and for a few minutes, Matt was pulled into another room. Shiro was alarmed at first but it was short-lived as his friend returned with changed clothes and a harsh glare. They were later dragged a few floors down until they reached a group of prisoners who were queuing up for… something.

It was a bit dusty from the more earth-like floor. And the noise was deafening. The place was filled with cheers and groans and the rumbling of some sort of collateral damage in the distance, past the stairs where the prisoner line originated from. It took a while for Shiro and Matt to get close enough to look at a panel-like window for the huge room right right above them. And when they did, their hearts almost stopped.

It was a battle arena. And they were fodder for the lone standing alien, roaring with its bloodied weapon raised in its hand. The crowds cheered for the alien as it delivered a killing blow to a fierce-looking creature on the ground. The creature died with an ugly splat.

Matt could hear his heart beating wildly in his ears. His arms trembled and he felt his knees wobble. He was going to puke or fall down, whichever came first. He let out a shaky breath. The whole arena was practically a slaughterhouse.

Shiro could feel sweat stinging his eyes. He wiped it nervously with the front of his prison shirt. His eyes were closed but he could still see the way the viscera splattered and flew in chunks.

At that moment, both humans had the same thought: they were going to die in that arena.

But for Shiro, something else came into his mind as well. On their last night before the launch, Keith had sparred with Shiro and the result was a draw after they exchanged blows non-stop for an unknown amount of time. The spar ended when Shiro pinned Keith in a one-handed front choke but Keith’s blade was pushed against Shiro’s neck. As they panted and cooled down in that position, Keith had said something.

**_“We’ll protect them. Sam and Matt.”_ **

Shiro had nodded that night because he understood what Keith meant. _‘They can’t fight like we can.’_

Shiro clenched his fists and gained a steel look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Matt.”

Matt looked to Shiro with a perplexed look. He had never seen Shiro so serious before. He was so surprised, he didn’t even react when Shiro attacked him. Heck, Matt didn’t even feel the pain. He didn’t even know what Shiro had done. He was just so confused.

The guards were quick to dissuade Shiro’s temper before his rage spread, potentially causing an unwanted prison riot.

In the commotion of other aliens pulling Shiro from pummeling his friend into the ground, Shiro grinned at Matt briefly. It was the same type of grin Matt would see after Shiro burnt their lunch on the stove or after Shiro accidentally spilled water on Matt’s research paper or the time Matt caught both Shiro and Keith stealing his cupcakes.

It was the grin of his best friend and it was a promise. If anything, it was all Matt could hear through the shouts around him.

“I’ll find Keith. I promise. Take care of Sam. And don’t do anything stupid.”

 

* * *

 

By the time Matt regained any sense of composure, he had been carried away from the arena waiting area. He was sent back to their original cell. He was sure he was injured but the pain didn’t matter. Shiro and Keith were self-sacrificing idiots. And it’d be a cold day in hell if Matt would let them get away with it.

Matt thought of Shiro and mentally reserved a punch or two for his friend. He thought of his dad and swore to find him the moment he got out. Matt thought of Keith. He pulled out the small luminescent stone he had slid into the sleeve of his apparel. The stone had been snuck from his old uniform as he was changing and shouting at the alien that kept watch. He had put up a fight just to ensure he could still keep the treasure he handpicked from Kerberos.

**_“Make good choices, Matt.”_ **

Matt closed his fist around the stone. Shiro wasn’t the only one with a promise.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little timeskip after this but not really? I dunno how to say, we'll see. The Blade of Marmora is kinda forcing me to keep to a steady timeline instead of jumping forward. Anyway, thanks for reading and commenting!!!!
> 
> And in case you missed it (cuz I take so long to update), the stone is something Matt found on Kerberos for Keith as he said he would.


	6. Reunion (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krolia finds out.

 

Krolia’s mission under Ranveig’s command was meant to be an infiltration mission after the discovery of a single container of potent quintessence. To gain access on all information of the concentrated quintessence, Krolia worked her way up the command chain for many years. She eventually found out its possible source while Ranveig was busy experimenting with the quintessence, trying to create and nurture powerful hybrids. Krolia had avoided any contact with other blades to gain Ranveig’s trust.

It had been years since she last saw Kolivan or even spoke to him. And she didn’t expect to see him the first time in a long time on the account of an accusation of mutiny either. She had returned to base to defend Thace and Ulaz’s efforts of locating her son. Krolia could hardly believe they had kept quiet for four months before informing her about her progeny’s capture. They had searched for him, digging everything to find exactly where he was imprisoned. Only then, Thace personally confronted her about her blade and ‘Keith Kogane’.

Krolia did not waste a single moment after Thace gave her every info Ulaz had gained. She went straight to the leader of the Blade of Marmora.

As it was, Kolivan’s arms were crossed as he stood menacingly in front of her. He had listened patiently but with a growing frown on his face as she explained her decisions. He eyed the blade that was returned to Krolia by Thace. “All this time, you left your blade with a _human_.”

Krolia’s eyes hardened and she met Kolivan’s eyes straight on. “I left my blade to _protect_ my son.” She left it at that, turned around and started walking away. Krolia only came to report about her next course of action which she would initiate with or without permission.

“And now you’re abandoning your cover and your mission for a child you did not even raise.” Kolivan reproved.

Krolia paused her steps. That was true. She did not raise Keith. She didn’t even know what her son looked like but- Krolia looked back to Kolivan.

Softly but with conviction, she took her stand. “I left him once. I’m not leaving him again.” Krolia turned and took long quick strides as she whispered fiercely to herself, “Especially with that _witch_.”

 

* * *

 

The laboratory was hidden in an asteroid field.

Krolia had taken a small ship from the Marmora base and charted course towards her son’s location. She was surprised that the ship was specifically equipped with an advanced armor-like space suit, exactly her size, with powerful built-in thrusters for sustained singular flight.  

Perhaps Kolivan wasn’t entirely vexed by her decision to leave her post.

Krolia suited up and prepared to infiltrate Haggar’s lab. Ulaz had passed on an exceptionally detailed visualization of the lab’s security measures. It took weeks to find the right sentry to hack. It took even longer for Ulaz to pinpoint where Keith was and how to get to him.

It was evident that Haggar had other projects. Even though Keith was her latest acquirement, she occasionally left the laboratory to cater to her other experiments elsewhere.

Thace had given Krolia a 15-hour timeframe for her to extract her son. It was the shortest amount of time Haggar had left Keith alone in the past month since Ulaz first discovered the laboratory and implanted a monitoring device. If Krolia infiltrated at the right time and place, none of the occupants of the laboratory would even be alerted of her presence.

After jumping and flying from asteroid to asteroid, Krolia only had 5 hours left. The laboratory was partially built around a huge asteroid, out of plain sight. There were no guards. The witch never needed any because her location was hidden well enough. Krolia used the entryway Ulaz had marked in the info chip Thace had given her. True to their words, the lab was mostly empty near where the prisoners were kept.

Because there was only one prisoner.

 

* * *

 

Krolia jumped from the vent and into the only occupied cell.

She immediately activated her blade on instinct when she was attacked with a surprisingly powerful kick. She had blocked it and was met with a glare that matched her own.

“Who the heck are you?”

For a moment, time stopped for Krolia.

This was her son. And he looked _so much_ like her. Although his skin was pale, his eyes were sunken and it burned with hatred, Krolia could almost imagine what Keith would have looked like smiling under the Sun that shone on Earth.

Snapping back into reality, Krolia took note of the threadbare clothing on her son, the obvious shock collar around his neck and the marks around his wrists and ankles that suggested some form of restraint. She saw the repetitive marks on the wall, probably a method for Keith to keep check of the days he was imprisoned. She admired his ability to keep himself sane but it crushed her that he had to go through it at all.

“I’m here to get you out.” Krolia spoke with determination.

Her son took a step back and frowned at her. His eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why?”

Something did not sit right with how Keith was both ready to fight her but greatly feared her as well. She had to convince him to believe her somehow. Krolia supposed it was as good a time as any to tell him everything.

“I’ll explain. Almost two decades ago, I was sent to scout Earth for the lions of Voltron.”

“What-“ Keith looked at her with the most bizarre expression, “-are you talking about?! How are you even speaking English?!”

Krolia continued without paying heed to her son’s confusion. “I crash landed and was saved by a human. I stayed to protect the Blue Lion. When it got too dangerous and the Galra Empire began to invade Earth, I left.”

Keith was massaging his temples. Almost too softly, Krolia heard him whisper, “Blue lions? This is by far, the weirdest illusion.” Then, he continued in a louder voice, “What’s the point of you telling me all this? I don’t understand-“

“I gave a weapon to the man that rescued me. The man I fell in love with. I gave him a blade before I left Earth.” She deactivated her blade and it returned to its regular size. Krolia looked at Keith and remembered the day she last kissed his cheek, the day she left Earth. In a quiet, gentle voice, she said, “I told him our son might need it someday.”

She watched Keith’s confusion slowly ebb away as he stared at the weapon in her hand, a weapon that was no doubt familiar. Keith seemed to stare at nothing, with a far-away look in his eyes. He seemed to reminisce something and recited under his breath, as though repeating what was once said to him, “…she came from the stars…”

He then stared at Krolia and truly looked at her. It was visible when everything clicked; Keith’s muscles loosened, he lost the tenseness in both his body and expression, and his eyes gradually widened.

Krolia’s heart warmed at hearing Keith ask in a whisper, “…Mom?”

She could not hold back the endearing smile directed to her only son. “Hello, Keith.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their reunion was cute hahaha Keith was so confused lmao and yes I know I made light of what Keith was going through under Haggar but I'll shed more light on it as the story goes.
> 
> There are a few 'Reunion' chapters but its scattered. This is the first of at least 3 reunions. Also, next few chapters will be a lot of angst so like, brace yourself? Yeah. You really thought Keith would be rescued just like that? Heck no.


	7. The Champion and The Half Breed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro sees a familiar face.  
> Keith sees a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why on Earth did ya'll think I would kill Krolia?! Hahahah pls know that I love Keith's mom so much, be rest assured that I will never kill her in any of my fics. Ever. 
> 
> Time skip warning. (I'll get back to Krolia and Keith's conversations in future chapters, for now, just know that Keith never escaped with Krolia in the previous chapter)
> 
> Trigger warning: Amputation but not graphic. You know who.

 

No matter how many times he had to do it, Shiro felt his hands go cold right before he was pushed into the arena. The crowd had a name for him and they chanted it again and again and again. He had no weapons, only his fists and legs but it was enough. There were a few close calls; evident by the permanent scar across his nose, but Shiro had taken down every alien he was forced to fight. They were always either too arrogant or too big for their own good.

This time, when he entered the ring, there was no bloodthirsty alien waiting for him. Instead, there was a single glowing sword sticking out from the rubble a few meters in front of him. It glowed an eerie violet colour and reminded Shiro of some of the alien weapons he had seen. The sword was probably a laser blade. Shiro was confused. They had never given him any weapons. He would usually steal his enemy’s weapon or use any stray pieces of stone and rubble if necessary.

Suddenly, the opposite portcullis grated open and Shiro’s eyes widened slowly. The crowd’s chants died into static and all he could hear was his heart beating erratically. His arms and knees were locked from shock and disbelief. The sweat trailing down his nape felt cold as chills went up his spine. Shiro felt how his brain struggled to comprehend the person walking into the arena.

“…Keith?”

Unlike Shiro’s black suit and purple crop-top, Keith wore a form-fitting dark grey suit that covered his entire body except his head. Keith held one blade that resembled a kukri. And his eyes… Keith glowered at Shiro and hunched his shoulders; a clear indication that he was about to strike. Shiro knew Keith recognized him but there was so much raw _hate_ in those once friendly eyes. Without hesitation, Keith charged.

“Keith, wait!”

But Keith kept running towards him.

Shiro ignored the sword in the ground and took Keith head on. He braced both feet, lowered his body, used Keith's momentum and effectively threw Keith over his shoulder. Which, of course, Keith landed on his feet because Shiro himself taught him how to.

“KEITH!” Shiro lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “Snap out of it!”

“SHUT UP!” Keith outright snarled at him and charged with his kukri.

As Shiro was avoiding Keith’s sharp swings, he used his feet to try and throw Keith off balance. Despite the immediate danger he was in, Shiro couldn’t help but reminisce their usual spars back at the Garrison.

“Look-“ Shiro ducked. “-I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Pfft.” Keith was still glaring at him as he sidestepped Shiro’s kick. “Yeah right,” he growled.

After a few more futile attempts at coaxing Keith to “Wake up!”, Shiro had had enough. “Okay, that’s it.” He ran for the sword in the ground and pulled it out in time to brace it against Keith’s kukri.

For a split second, when their swords clanged loudly from impact, Shiro saw Keith’s eyes widen in fear. Shiro took advantage of that moment and initiated a quick return thrust. Keith grunted and took a few steps back after the counterattack. They both ended up standing and panting while staring at each other.

“Keith.” Shiro spoke again, hoping Keith would listen this time. “I don’t know what’s going on but you have to stop. We’re on the same side, remember? I looked everywhere for you in this place!”

Keith didn’t answer him but his eyes showed how little Shiro’s words meant to him.  And if that wasn’t obvious enough, Keith running menacingly towards him again certainly was.

“DAMN IT, KEITH!” Shiro groaned with a roll of his eyes before he was blocking Keith’s swings again.

He didn’t want to hurt Keith but the kukri had grazed him quite a few times and there were one too many times when Keith almost stabbed him.

Shiro finally decided to treat their battle like any of their other competitive spars. He parried Keith’s blows, took chances at every opening and _strike_. One particular blow gave Shiro the opportunity to topple and straddle Keith. He managed to pin Keith to the ground as their blades locked together. Shiro gritted his teeth and pushed. He was gaining the upper hand as Keith was trapped against the arena floor.

“Yield!” Shiro growled.

But Keith was relentless and didn’t say a word.

“Keith-!” Shiro’s grip was faltering because he saw how close his blade was getting to Keith’s face. And it being a laser blade meant it emitted heat. Shiro completely pulled himself back when he saw a burn mark begin to form on Keith’s cheek.

Keith didn’t waste any time and pulled his legs out from under Shiro to kick his torso. Shiro gasped as the air was knocked out of him.

Both of them were up in seconds after that ordeal. And Keith finally spoke.

“Why didn’t you just stab me, huh?!”

“Cuz that would hurt, you idiot!”

That response seemed to have caught Keith off guard but again, his face pulled back into a snarl and then they were back to their sword dance.

“Keith, c’mon-“ Shiro panted out. Instinctively, he bent his knees and avoided a particularly wide swing, rolled once and swept Keith’s feet from behind. It was a move he had pulled numerous times on Keith. “Did you seriously fall for that one again?” he couldn’t help but ask with a fond smile.

Keith remained on the ground and looked genuinely shocked. He stared at Shiro with such recognition that Shiro thought it was finally over. Shiro dropped his sword and sighed. Just then, Keith's face morphed into a hateful expression and he stood up slowly, like a crouching tiger waiting to attack. Shiro raised his arms in surrender because he had already discarded his weapon. He took a few steps back and braced himself to make a break for it around the arena again.

When Keith moved, Shiro took off. After a few steps, Shiro looked back and yelped when he suddenly saw the kukri _fly_ towards him. He ducked in time but it was a _near-freaking-miss_ and he noted how Keith had barely taken two steps! Keith actually tricked him into making a run for it. That little _shit_. And what's worse-- 

Shiro's head snapped towards Keith and he spontaneously let out, “Are you _insane_?! What did I say about throwing stuff?! Throw it at anyone but me and Matt and Sam, remember?!”

Those questions seemed to break something in Keith.

Shiro watched as Keith’s face crumbled and his knees buckled onto the arena floor. Keith held his head tightly, grabbing fistfuls of his own hair as he shouted towards the ground, “ ** _STOP SOUNDING LIKE HIM_**!”

It was such a desperate cry that it pained Shiro to hear. He didn’t understand but he knew something was wrong. Those aliens did something to Keith somehow. Keith was treating Shiro like an alternate being instead of the real Shiro.

Shiro slowly approached Keith and softly called out, “…Keith… I'm real.”

“…please stop…”

Shiro heard the soft plea, how Keith’s voice was breaking as though he was on the verge of crying.

When Shiro got close enough, he crouched in front of Keith and reached out his hand. "I'm right here, Keith-"

“…get out of my head...!” Then, Keith shouted all of a sudden, “STOP IT!”

Shiro was too late to react as Keith grabbed the sword Shiro had dropped and took a swing at him. It all happened too fast. One moment Shiro was crouching, the next, there was fire coursing through his arm. Shiro screamed as he fell onto his back. He gripped his left arm- or what was left of it. Through the haze of the pain and ragged breathing, Shiro looked to Keith.

“…this wasn’t… wasn’t supposed to be real…” Keith looked confused and so scared at the same time. Keith slowly stared at the spilled blood and then turned to Shiro. Keith’s whole body seemed to shake and his pupils dilated in growing fear. Then he asked in a broken whisper, “…Shiro…?”

Shiro would laugh if he could because _finally_. He thought he had lost his Keith there.

Keith’s breathing seemed to pick up and in a few seconds, he was close to hyperventilating.

Shiro tried to calm him and call out to him but Keith wasn’t listening and he was staggering backwards, away from Shiro. That was when Keith’s body jolted as though his nerves were attached to a live wire and an awful cry spilled from his lips. Shiro pinpointed the source when Keith seemingly grabbed something at his neck. It wasn’t there before but a piece of metal had suddenly materialized around Keith’s neck and was efficiently shocking him into compliance. Finally, when it ended, Keith’s eyes turned glassy and his body became like a puppet that had just gotten its strings cut.  

Pure anger coursed through Shiro as he pulled himself up. Though he was quickly held down by alien guards as Keith’s body fell to the floor. He watched helplessly yet again as Keith was approached by those weird cloaked aliens that had once teleported Shiro, Sam and Matt into their first cell.

“GET _AWAY_ FROM HIM!” Shiro shouted with all his might. His arm (or absence of it) was killing him but he was not going to let Keith slip away from him again. Shiro struggled to get to Keith. He smashed the back of his head against one guard and kicked another. But there was only so much Shiro could do against a dozen of them with the trauma of recently losing a limb. Keith was getting far away. It was happening all over again.

“LET HIM GO DAMN IT!” Shiro shouted and fought again and again but he was eventually dragged away from the arena. “KEITH!”

 

* * *

 

Shiro only reached full clarity maybe a day later when he was sent back to his cell. He sat near the back wall and stared at the numerous hash marks. Another mark was etched on the wall using the sharp rubble piece he’d stashed after his third fight. There were a few blackout days that was left out but Shiro believed he wasn’t too far off the mark.

313 days.

That’s how long he had been captive at the mercy of the aliens. That’s how long they had Keith and did whatever the heck they were doing to him. Shiro could not forget the unadulterated fear from Keith’s eyes at the end of their fight. Keith had said that their fight ‘wasn’t supposed to be real’.

After the arena, Shiro remembered things in snippets. They had knocked him out and dragged him to a place that had been previously unoccupied. Shiro knew because he had been there before on escape plan #3 and #5. It was a set of rooms built like a laboratory but was unused.

Shiro remembered lying somewhere flat in the second or third room. There was a needle that had poked him and it made everything seem... slow. As they drugged him, he remembered looking through a glass-like window. His eyes had felt heavy but he knew what he saw - Keith strapped to an examination table, with some cloaked person hovering over Keith's face. There were more of those cloaked aliens but the one touching Keith seemed different. That one had long white hair and glowing hands. That alien was gripping Keith's head and Keith was struggling to free himself. Shiro may not have clearly seen what they were doing but only one thing came to thought; they were messing with Keith's mind.

When Shiro woke up, he had a new robotic right arm, no Keith and he was back in his cell.

Shiro suddenly winced and realized he had clenched his human fist so hard that his fingernails pierced the skin of his palm. He was pissed off but anger would not help him rescue Keith. Shiro took a calming breath and instead imagined and created the steps to where he was held for his ‘arm replacement’ surgery, a room right next to where he had seen Keith. Shiro scrambled his head and repeated his perfected escape route, this time adding Keith to the equation. He had waited a long time to finally find Keith.  

There was no time to lose. It was now or never.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst angst angst coming up more and more
> 
> Also, yes, if Keith was never captured, believe me, Shiro would have made an escape months ago. But the reason he stayed was to look for Keith. That was it. Now that he's found Keith, it's time to get the heck out.


	8. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro's escape plan comes to fruition.

 

Shiro could hear the faint sounds of synchronized footsteps. He closed his eyes. _‘You got this…’_

And counted out softly. “1… 2… 3… 4…”

_‘Just like the final exam.’_

“5… 6… 7…”

The sentries were reaching the end of the corridor. One would turn left and one would turn right.

“8… 9… 10… 11… 12…”

Shiro opened his eyes, took position and aimed. The sharp rubble in his grip was smashed into the wall of his cell where the control box was located. Unfortunately, he underestimated the strength of his robot arm and kind of overkilled it. He turned part of the wall into rubble instead of just jamming the sharp piece through the control box. The cell door had opened promptly though. Luckily, the alarms were not triggered and the two sentries had not returned. With a huff, Shiro sprinted down the corridor and started mentally tracking his way towards Keith.

All the while, he was counting in his head. He had memorized the rotation sequence of the alien robots. And it helped that their metal-like body created heavy footsteps, alerting him of their incoming approach prematurely. Shiro ducked into niches appropriately and avoided being spotted rather easily. He had a rough 30-minute window before they discovered the destroyed control box of his cell.

_‘Hang in there, Keith!’_

Shiro didn’t run into any hiccups until he reached the laboratory where Keith was detained. He didn’t expect it to be so heavily guarded. It was the only hitch in his plan and he had no weapons to fight with. He was hiding behind the wall that led to the corridor of the laboratory, crouched and frustrated. He was already running out of time.

In midst that anger and desire to _fight_ , he realized his robotic hand was starting to glow – the same colour as the blade he was gifted with to fight Keith in the arena. Putting two and two together, Shiro was actually grateful towards the aliens for once. Shiro willed his glowing hand to actually _stay glowing_ as he stood up and bolted towards the guards.

They didn’t even see him coming.

And neither did the rest waiting inside.

 

* * *

 

Under different circumstances, his new robotic arm would have been  _so cool_. The Holts would have a field day picking that thing apart. Shapeshifting glowy arm? Awesomest thing ever.

Still, Shiro was new to it. So when he found the room he remembered seeing Keith in, he wasn’t too proud of the weird shape he had cut out of the door using his laser arm. The imperfect circle Shiro had carved on the door fell forward with a heavy thump and Shiro awkwardly stepped through.

He was greeted by Keith’s tired and frowning face from the examination table he was still strapped to the last time Shiro saw him.

Before anything, Shiro lifted both his arms in surrender and asked, “What can I do to prove to you that I’m real? I mean, not _real_ real but like real Shiro real.”

Keith looked incredulously at the ridiculous state of the door and then back to Shiro’s deer-caught-in-a-headlight expression. Illusion-Shiro always looked and sounded… too perfect. Keith finally sighed because not even Illusion-Shiro could pull off that face. Keith croaked harshly but honestly, “You already did.”

Immediately catching what Keith meant because he followed where Keith was looking, Shiro deadpanned to his new robotic arm, “Hey, it’s a _start_.”

Shiro used his glowing hand to carefully cut through the straps around Keith’s wrists, ankles and torso before helping him sit up. He noticed that the collar he had seen in the arena at the end of their fight was no longer there. Without delay, Shiro turned while holding one of Keith’s arms and prompted Keith to get on his back.

Keith huffed defiantly so Shiro looked over his shoulder and said, “Either this or I knock you out. You choose.”

Keith made his choice obvious by winding his arms around Shiro’s neck and letting Shiro lift his thighs securely.

Once Shiro had a good grip and Keith’s head was resting on his shoulder, Shiro stepped out of the carved door. “It’s gonna be a bumpy ride. Hang on, okay? We’re getting out of here.”

Shiro began to dash out of the laboratory and counted about 10 minutes before the aliens would notice the rubble outside his cell.

“…How do you know the way…?” Keith whispered.

Shiro smirked. “Planned it for months. Made a few attempts and mapped out the whole place. Memorized all their rotations too.”

Keith chuckled. “You could have left anytime, you know that?”

“Too bad I promised someone I’d find you first.”

Keith was quiet for a while as Shiro turned a few corridors. Then he spoke again, his voice stronger and firmer, “They’re okay. Matt and Sam.”

Shiro almost stopped. _Almost_. “You’ve seen them?”

Keith’s head lolled a little to the side, as though he had shrugged. “Sort of.”

“We’re having words later. _Lots of words_ about that later.”

Keith chuckled again. “Mm.”

All of a sudden, one of the purple aliens appeared as Shiro turned another corridor. Shiro came to an abrupt stop and glared at the obstacle. No one was supposed to be in that route. On the contrary, the alien didn’t seem alarmed to have caught them and it spoke to them in a calm even tone.  

Shiro assumed they would be fighting so he lowered himself. “Keith, I’m putting you down-“

“He’s friendly…!” Keith said urgently.

“What-“

Keith’s eyes were on the alien as he semi-shouted, “He doesn’t have a chip! He can’t understand you!”

Shiro looked between Keith and the alien as they conversed. Keith explained how Shiro had escaped and had rescued him from the lab. The alien spoke a few words in between Keith's explanation. Finally, the alien nodded towards them both.

“Shiro, this is Ulaz. He’s helping us… get to the pods. He'll launch it to Earth.” Keith exhaled tiredly. “You planned for us... to use the escape pods… right?”

Shiro nodded back to the alien and answered Keith simultaneously, “Yeah, we are.”

Shiro didn’t really have any complaints. Any friend of Keith was a friend of his. Besides, in Shiro’s opinion, Keith wasn’t feeling too good. His body started to warm up the longer Shiro was holding him and Shiro could feel a thin layer of sweat forming between their bodies. Any help they could get to hasten their escape was a golden opportunity Shiro would greedily take.

The alien opened up one of the sealed rooms and gestured Shiro to follow. Suddenly, the alarms began to blare. Shiro winced. “Looks like they already found my empty cell.” Which was surprising because it was earlier than Shiro counted. Maybe his mental clock was a little off. Shiro adjusted Keith on his back and tracked after Keith's supposed friend.

“Shiro.” Keith softly spoke over the sound of the alarm, “We have to find… Voltron.”

“What?”

“…on Earth. We have to find Voltron.”

“Keith-“

“Somewhere in the desert… where we used to race…”

Shiro decided to humour Keith in his delusional state. “Okay. Find Voltron in the desert. Got it.” But how delusional could Keith be? Shiro filed away ‘Voltron’ for later.

The alien ‘Ulaz’ led them to the pods in a _much_ shorter way than the path Shiro had originally mapped out. Shiro put Keith down and was surprised when Keith remained standing. He still looked a little pale but he was much steadier on his feet. Meanwhile, Ulaz was at the control panel nearby, keying in certain codes as Shiro investigated the first pod to ensure its safety.

He waved Keith over to the pod entrance once he was done. “Coast is clear. C’mon! Ulaz has the coordinates to Earth, right?”

Ulaz then said something to Keith, to which Keith only nodded. Keith walked towards Shiro with a solemn expression. “Shiro, I…” He looked down at Shiro’s arm.

And Shiro was not having any of that shit. Better to address the issue immediately even if they had little time left to spare.

“Keith. Look at me.” Shiro clasped Keith’s shoulders. He looked into Keith’s pained guilt-filled eyes. He looked at the burn mark he had made on Keith’s face. He looked at his friend who had been through a hell Shiro did not know about (yet). “It. _Wasn’t_. Your. Fault. And for what it’s worth," Shiro smiled kindly at Keith and ruffled his hair. "I forgive you.”

It wasn’t much but it was something. Shiro could see the effect of his words from Keith's posture; a little weight was taken off from his heavy shoulders. Unexpectedly, Keith took Shiro’s hand and let it touch the red mark on his face.

Shiro’s hand twitched and he wanted to pull it away because _‘youdidthistohim-‘_ but Keith held it still.

With a firm look in his eyes, Keith tersely said, “This-” He squeezed Shiro’s hand, emphasizing the stark burn mark. “-wasn’t your fault either.”

“Keith-“

“ _Not_ your fault.” Keith repeated softly but determinedly.

Shiro gulped. He breathed in slowly. And breathed out. His stiff hand relaxed and it cupped Keith’s cheek instead, accepting the mark and his mistake (or lack thereof according to Keith).

“…okay.” Shiro finally responded weakly.

Keith nodded. “Find Voltron. Remember that Shiro.”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Why would I forget that when you’ll be there reminding me the whole time?” he joked but then it hit him. Why was Keith ‘instructing’ him to find Voltron over and over-

Shiro felt himself be roughly shoved into the escape pod. Was it stupid of him to not have seen it coming? Why else would Keith repeat himself again and again? Shiro scrambled to get up but the door had already slid close.

He tried to get the door to open from the inside but it kept making that stupid ‘rejected’ sound. Shiro banged on it in resentment and… betrayal. “…why?”

 ** _“I can’t go yet.”_** Keith said through the door.

“Keit-“

The pod resounded with a ticking sound and a flashing green light at the control panel, heightening Shiro’s sense of urgency. Shiro banged on the door again. “KEITH!”

**_“Shut up and trust me!”_ **

And then softly, Shiro heard Keith say, **_“We’ll be okay. I promise.”_**

Weakly, Shiro punched the door in defeat. He leaned his forehead against the cool surface and sighed. “Find Voltron. Got it.”

**_“You better strap in, captain.”_ **

Shiro smiled fondly at the familiar teasing tone. “Shut up, brat.”

With a heavy heart, they stepped away from both sides of the escape pod. It launched soon enough, course set to Earth. Once again, Shiro and Keith parted ways but this time, somewhat willingly.

“Be careful…” Keith whispered to himself, the same moment Shiro swore, “I’ll come back for you.”

 

* * *

 

(On Earth)

A nurse was conducting her hourly routine of checking on all of her coma patients. All patients had just undergone the treatment for muscle strength and all she had to do was ensure their readings were normal. Seemingly, it was a night like any other. She only had 5 patients in a long-term vegetative state. Five was a small number thus, it was hard to miss an empty bed.

With a gasp, the nurse ran out to alert everyone on the missing coma patient. When they reviewed the security tape, they saw the patient on Bed 3 quite literally wake up and then walked out of his bed.

The doctors who were present simply shook their heads and one asked, “Which one is this…?”

“His only relative was announced dead a few months ago. A son I think? Died in space.”

“Ah that one.”

“Tragic… Perhaps it would be better to leave him be. His whole treatment is still covered under his previous company.”

“The fire department wasn’t it?”

There were murmurs of agreement from all around.

In a few hours, far away from the hospital, in a dusty old house, someone was finally home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHA! I'm sure you guys know who I was talking about at the end there~ Let's pretend that this universe has proper equipment to maintain muscle strength for coma patients.  
> Also, everything that happened during Shiro & Keith's escape happened for a reason which will be explained in the next chap before we're back to 'lost Keith' again. 
> 
> Any preference for Keith's dad's name? I know people call him Heath or Texas lmao


	9. Orchestrated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What was once funny in the past, will not always be funny in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some more pre-kerb interaction between Team Human! Also, I have no excuse for leaving this fic for almost a year so here you go lol

Keith had just been announced as the co-pilot of the Kerberos mission about a few hours ago. And because Matt had personally seen the obvious envy and disagreement from almost everyone, he had opted to follow Keith around, much to Keith’s annoyance. It was not Matt’s presence that annoyed Keith. No. It was the fact that Matt literally did not stop talking. Half the time, Keith didn’t even know what Matt was talking about.

There were a lot of things Keith knew nothing about apparently - like an old TV series about a giant robot fighting other giant robots which Matt said defied all laws of physics but was fascinating as heck to watch on lazy weekend mornings. Matt then proceeded to go on a tangent about the next ‘movie-cation’ he would educate Keith on.

Keith didn’t bother stopping Matt because no one could stop Matt from talking, especially not Keith. And Keith refrained from asking why Matt was suddenly so chatty because Shiro was just teaching Keith about ‘tact’ and ‘subtlety’ a few nights ago. However, once the two of them were in the library, Keith finally knew why.

While the Garrison library did not have the typical strict librarian to keep things in order and its occupants quiet, most of the cadets had the courtesy to converse softly or not at all. There was an unspoken rule of the level of noise in the library.

Thus, as Matt and Keith were enjoying some quiet time (“I like to call it as ‘Keith’s recharge mode’!”), one cadet was being _very_ vocal about his thoughts of Keith being the co-pilot of one of the biggest missions of the Galaxy Garrison.

“Urgh..! Seriously! How’d a guy like _Kogane_ get a recommendation from both Officer Holt _and_ the legendary Takashi Shirogane?! He just got lucky with the simulator last week! And now he’s suddenly a co-pilot?! Makes no sense. Like. AT ALL. _I_ could fly better than him.”

Keith had been keeping his head down because he had already expected the backlash from the announcement. Sam and Shiro had done nothing but drill in his head about _not_ beating anyone up. Matt had then pointed out that they didn’t have anything to worry about because Keith would never defend his own honor. He only beat people up when he was defending the Holts’ or Shiro’s honor. Sam had nodded with raised eyebrows at his son and said, “Huh. You’re right.”

Keith wasn’t stupid. And he didn’t care about being badmouthed. Besides, his peers didn’t need to know that he had already been training for the mission for months prior to the announcement. And the simulation last week? That was just Keith being dared to beat Shiro’s highscore because Matt wanted to prove Keith was the better pilot and that Shiro was a ‘sore loser’.

A small smile started to appear on his face when he remembered winning the dare and he looked up to reminisce the memory with Matt. The humor vanished from Keith’s thoughts as he saw the dark look Matt was giving over Keith’s shoulder - right at the cadet who was whining about Keith.

If looks could kill, that cadet would have vaporized on the spot. Why was Keith the one being advised not to punch other people when Matt looked like he was _this_ close to losing it? Keith had seen glimpses of that expression on Matt all day but it was directed at random groups of cadets. Suddenly, _everything clicked_.

Matt had been shielding him from all the negative talk going around by literally talking Keith’s ears off. Keith’s chest suddenly felt tight, an emotion he had yet to comprehend completely but it happened every other day when he was with Shiro and the Holts.

It wasn’t like Keith would die from a few scathing remarks. And yet Matt was there, distracting Keith to make sure he didn’t have to hear those remarks _at all_. It was difficult still to accept that Matt was and always will be in Keith’s corner.

When Matt turned his attention to Keith, he smiled deviously. ‘Play along’ he mouthed at Keith.

“How could Keith _not_ get a recommendation from my father and Shiro?” Matt questioned loudly and purposefully.

The whiny cadet from earlier jerked harshly from his chair and turned with a panicked look towards Matt.

“I mean,” Matt continued, expression perfectly serious, “we did kidnap him from the desert. Shiro and I found him wandering around and decided to brainwash him with the garrison’s library books. His memory is like a hard disk with unlimited space. Shiro and I were roommates you see, and we kept Keith inside our room for oh, what, two years?”

“Two and a half,” Keith offhandedly corrected.

“Right, of course, my bad. _Two and a half years_.”

He could see how hard Matt was trying not to lose composure from the bullshit cover story.

“And since we were both already selected for the Kerberos mission, Shiro and I just trained Keith to be able to fly a space shuttle so that we could take him with us. Admiral Sanda was very supportive of this notion. But this is all like, top secret stuff though, so don’t go snitching on me.”

The whole library was in dead silence and remained that way even after Keith and Matt had left the premise.

Later that evening, when Shiro tiredly asked them, “ _Why_ has everyone been asking me if we kidnapped Keith from the desert and had him locked in our room for two years?”, Keith and Matt simultaneously responded with “Two and a half.” before they completely broke into a fit of laughter.

Sam entered the room to see his son on the floor clutching his stomach, Keith laughing more reservedly on his chair but just as badly affected as Matt and Shiro looking more bone tired than Sam even knew he was capable of. “Do I even want to know?”

 

* * *

* * *

 

Keith watched the escape pod deploy with a melancholic expression. He wanted nothing more than to go with Shiro. But he still had Matt and Sam to get to. He had told his mom as much when she tried to break him out of Haggar’s research facility the first time. He firmly stood his ground and said he would not leave without first knowing that Shiro, Matt and Sam were safe. It was not confirmed if they would have been affected had Keith went with his mom but Keith would not jeopardize their lives by escaping alone.

His mom had simply smiled and said how he had his father’s stubbornness and strong heart. She had promised to find them so that Keith could finally leave. At the same time, she never quite left him. There had been more than a few visits and she had been the one that had kept Keith sane throughout the months he was held captive and being mindfucked by that damn witch.

Keith knew he was still not in the right mindset to actually be with Shiro or to be back on Earth anyway. There was no telling when a relapse would happen or when Keith would lose his grip on reality again. The garrison would just be _ecstatic_ to dissect his brain if he returned in his unstable state - something they had strive and failed to achieve was to push Keith to his breaking point after all.

Besides, Shiro could deal with Voltron. He’d find a way. Keith strongly believed he would.

“You must go now, Keith.” Ulaz spoke from behind him.

“I know. Is Krolia here already?”

Ulaz nodded. He took out a familiar looking blade and held it up.

Keith took it with ease and a nostalgic sense of familiarity. He had not touched his blade in almost a year. Keith looked up to Ulaz and bowed his head slightly. “Thank you.”

Ulaz merely inclined his head before a nearby explosion shook the room they were in and pieces of rubble crumbled around them. A large gaping hole could be seen on the floor where it led to one of the hangars on the massive ship. It was perfectly orchestrated to look as though the galras had been ambushed. Honestly, Shiro's execution of his well-thought-out escape plan just so happened to coincide with the day Krolia decided it was time her son got the heck off that ship.

“Go,” Ulaz urged Keith more urgently.

Without anything except for the clothes on his back and the blade in his hand, Keith jumped.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay maybe I did have an excuse for not updating (KnY. It was KnY) BUT PLS KNOW THAT I WILL NEVER ABANDON THIS FIC BECAUSE THERE'S ONE SCENE THAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS FIC AND IS THE ONLY REASON WHY THIS FIC EVEN EXISTS so stay tuned ^3^


End file.
